The B Willie Smith Band Live at Toads Place on 2011-05-20 Let’s Have a Natural Ball
Good Rockin’ Tonight
Gonna Quit Her ??
Papas Gota a Brand New Bag
Ninety-Nine and a Half (Won’t Do)
Get Your Kicks on Route 66
One Night With You
I Gotta Gal Lives Up On The Hill
Slow Twistin
(You’re So Square) I Don’t Care
Harmonica ?
Baby Don’t Leave Me...
Band Bio The B Willie Smith Band is
Bruce Smith - Vocals, drums
Major charisma; smooth as silk vocals. Bruce William (B. Willie).
Jerry Connolly - Drums, harmonica, vocals
Big backbeat. Jerry comes out from behind drums for sizzling blues-soaked harmonica and vocals.
Steve Baldino - Guitar, vocals
Albert King meets Chet Atkins. A totally original guitarist who sounds like no one else!
Mike Cavadini - Piano, alto sax, vocals
At home in any style on the 88's. Switches to alto sax to join the B. Willie Horns.
Bob Elliott - Bass, vocals
Most prolific songwriter - sings many of his own songs bringing a country sensibility to the band.
Bill Holloman - Tenor sax, trumpet, keyboards, vocals
Monster musician! Bill's played with Paul Simon, Larry Gatlin, Danny Gatton, Beyonce, Roberta Flack ,Chic, Blood, Sweat and Tears, Shaboo Allstars, and many others. He's performed extensively in Europe (including The Montreux Jazz Festival several times) and Japan.
The B. Willie Smith Band traces its early roots to each band member's love for Chicago Blues and the stripped down country style of Hank Williams, Sr. In 1971, the 6 high school classmates and friends got together weekly to play in the garage of guitarist Steve Baldino's parents. The original 5 members all graduated from North Haven HS (CT) in 1973. (Bill Holloman replaced original guitar/sax player Bob Boettger in 1981). At age 17 in 1972, they played their first "job" as B. Willie Smith, at a local bar in North Haven and packed the place (50 people).
Fast forward a few years, and they decided to make a go of it on the club circuit with a slightly altered format of Chicago Blues and R&B (a few rock and roll beats as opposed to all shuffles). (Original) guitarist Bob Boettger and pianist Mike Cavadini started playing tenor and alto saxes respectively, so, with Smith and Connolly sharing drum duties, most of the band was playing two instruments and shows became very tight. In 1978, the band had management and a recording contract, and found themselves playing clubs and concert halls from New Orleans to Nova Scotia, as well as a heavy college circuit.
The core of the group, Cavadini, Baldino, Elliott, Smith and Connolly, stayed together until the mid 80's with occasional subs--guitarists GE Smith, Young Neal Vituolo, Chris Vachon (now with Roomful of Blues), and saxophonists Holloman, then Dan Cipriano, and finally, Dan Morretti.
Along the way, some legendary musicians sat in with the band - guitarists Keith Richards, Danny Gatton and Albert Collins, as well as George Thorogood (at Toads Place in New Haven, CT). The band also shared the bill with a slew of legends including: Ray Charles, Tony Bennett, Bonnie Raitt, John Lee Hooker, Willie Dixon, James Brown, Wilson Pickett, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Los Lobos, Etta James, Albert King, and REM (!) among many others.
The band officially parted ways in the late 80's, but all remained good friends. In recent years (since 2000), circumstances have brought them back together yearly to play shows at Toad's Place in New Haven and other New England clubs, as well as private parties and college reunions. Browse by Subject / Keywords
On June 18, 2011, Gerald Connolly granted permission to host The B Willie Smith Band recordings on the Live Music Archive
I am the drummer/harmonica player a band called "The B Willie Smith Band".
A friend of ours recorded a recent gig and we would like to give him permission to upload the gig, so that fans can download the music for free.
